THE HONOR, THE HONOR...:

[B]y 1989, while there were few true believers who saw the Soviet Union as a workers’ paradise, there were still plenty of lefties left who thought the Bloc was an honourable if unsuccessful experiment solely because they used the word 'socialism’ a lot.

I once worked on a Channel 4 documentary series called The Other Europe which aired in 1988. We were attacked by The Independent’s television critic for being too harsh on Ceausescu. A year later the Ceausescus’ compatriots delivered an even harsher verdict.